Recent Advances in Layered Tungsten Disulfide as Electrocatalyst for Water Splitting

Abstract

Electrocatalytic decomposition of water is an effective method to solve the energy and environmental crisis brought about by fossil fuel combustion. Due to its low cost and abundant resources, non-precious metal catalysts have achieved rapid development and are widely used in the electrolysis of water. Among these catalysts, WS 2 is known as a potential candidate for water decomposition catalysts because of its unique physical and chemical properties and crystal structure. Therefore, we summarize the application of WS 2 in the field of electrolysis water splitting. First, the crystal structure, the principle of HER/OER, and the performance evaluation parameters are introduced. Then it focuses on the preparation and structure control of WS 2 , the method, and the mechanism of performance optimization. Finally, the research on theoretical calculations of WS 2 and a discussion about the opportunities and challenges of WS 2 as electrocatalyst in the future are summarized. To improve the readability of this review, a concise overview at the end of each section gives some of the characteristics and trends of the studies in the corresponding part.

Strained Epitaxy of Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides for Wrinkle Arrays

“…Furthermore, WS 2 is a promising electrocatalyst for electrochemical hydrogen production. 74 The catalytic efficiency depends on the number of active sites, which are normally located at edges of the 2H-WS 2 flake. Increasing the edge sites is an effective approach to enhance HER performance.…”

Self‐Assembled Two‐Dimensional NiO/CeO2 Heterostructure Rich in Oxygen Vacancies as Efficient Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution and Oxygen Evolution

“…Hydrogen, a clean energy carrier, is recognized as one of the most promising new energy sources in the modern age [1, 2] . Among hydrogen production technologies, electrochemical water splitting, which possesses several advantages such as a simple hydrogen production process, no pollution, and high product purity, is a mature and potential technology for large‐scale hydrogen production [3–5] . The water‐splitting reaction can be divided into two half reactions: the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER).…”

Design Principles for Tungsten Oxide Electrocatalysts for Water Splitting

“…In contrast to transition‐metal based sulfides, nitrides and phosphides, [10] transition metal oxides have the easy accessibility, environmental‐friendly and cost‐efficient characteristics, exhibiting potential and wide applications in energy storage and conversion, such as photo‐/electro‐catalysis and fuel cells [11–14] . In addition to economic and environmental considerations, the optimized materials should satisfy requirements of high‐efficiency and stability in reaction system.…”

“…[6,7] In this regard, the sustainable efforts have been made to explore an excellent noble metalfree catalysts from the transition-metal compounds in which unpaired electrons and unfilled orbitals are beneficial to form chemical adsorption bonds. [8,9] In contrast to transition-metal based sulfides, nitrides and phosphides, [10] transition metal oxides have the easy accessibility, environmental-friendly and cost-efficient characteristics, exhibiting potential and wide applications in energy storage and conversion, such as photo-/electro-catalysis and fuel cells. [11][12][13][14] In addition to economic and environmental considerations, the optimized materials should satisfy requirements of high-efficiency and stability in reaction system.…”